Thursday, January 25, 2007

Finally. After the long holidays break, the NorCal 2007 MTB schedule has commenced. The first races of the season are down in Fresno this weekend.

There have been some changes to this weekend's CCORC racing schedule. The time trial (Tri-Sport MTB ST #3) will stay on Saturday, January 27th, but will start 11:30 AM (registration). The short track race (Herb Bauer MTB TT #3) will be moved from Sunday (January 28th) to Saturday (January 27th) directly after the time trail (around 3 PM). Sunday will still be the cyclocross race (for those that ride that way). You can see the full day agenda at their website.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

The qualification procedures for the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vt. July 17-22 have been finalized. Cross Country, Downhill and Dual Slalom are only open to competitors who meet qualifying standards throughout the season. The qualification period for the aforementioned three categories, which began August 1, 2006, ends July 15, 2007. The events that serve as qualifiers for the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships include:

USA Cycling Mountain Bike State and Regional Championships

American Mountain Bike Challenge (AMBC) events

USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendar events

Alison Dunlap Junior Olympic Mountain Bike Series events

USA Cycling Mountain Bike Regional Development Camps

Additionally, all 2006 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champions are qualified to compete in 2007. An event schedule for the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, registration information and the event website will be announced the second week of February.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Velo Promo has announced the 2007 Glory Hole MTB race. Scheduled for March 3rd, 2007 in Angels Camp, CA [ MAP ], this cross country (XC) race is described as a "7 mile rolling loop starting and finishing at Angels Arm. The same course as Iron Angel, but clockwise. Wide singletrack, narrow new track, 1 short paved stretch with uphill finish."

Saturday, January 20, 2007

The good folks at dhReno have a short story about people trying to get another mountain bike park (if you count the on-again, off-again NorthStarAtTahoe) going. Very preliminary, but still interesting. Check it out over at dhReno.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

While it is very early in the new year, I think we are starting to see a clear trend for 2007 MTB racing: the rise of ultra marathon and stage races. Just this year, we have the following 100 mile plus races on the schedule:

Durango MTB 100: The Durango, Colorado MTB 100 begins at the base of Durango Mountain Resort and climbs to a summit of 11,500 feet in elevation in the San Juan Mountains. Riders can choose three courses; the 100 mile, the 100 kilometer course or the 50k course.

XC races #6 and #7 have changed dates. Race #6 is now May 19th (moved from April 27th) and race #7 is now June 3rd (from June 10th).

Sites for the XC races have been announced. All of the races are either in Fort Ord East Garrison or Toro Park.

DH race #3 has been moved from April 28th to May 20th.

There is a new opener for the DH races series on Saturday, Feb 17th

Announced the scoring for the XC and DH series: throw out the lowest score of the series except the final, highest total score wins. For the DH races, this is best of six. Best of nine for the XC series.

This makes the combined schedules for the XC and DH series look like this:

Friday, January 12, 2007

Well, a month or so after they announced it, here is the revamped 2007 USA Cycling MTB calendar:

After unveiling plans for a new season-long mountain bike initiative last October, USA Cycling announced today the 53 races that comprise the inaugural USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars.

With over $200,000 in prize money on the line, the calendars encompass all disciplines of competitive off-road cycling and are divided into three primary categories – cross country, gravity and ultra endurance ...

... Consisting of 29 events across 17 states, the cross country calendar kicks off March 25 with the Chickasaw Trace Classic in Columbia, Tenn. and stretches six months to the last weekend in October when the Piney Hills Classic XIV in Ruston, La. concludes the calendar. In between, notable events such as the Sea Otter Classic and the six National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) races from USA Cycling’s previous national series model are included.

Each of the 29 events on the cross country calendar is categorized according to the amount of overall ranking points available. Five category-1 events offer the most points – the Sea Otter Classic, the Snowshoe MTB Festival in West Virginia and the NMBS stops in Phoenix, Park City, Utah and Banner Elk, N.C.

The cross country calendar also includes three category-2 events, seven category-3 races and 14 category-4 events...

... The 18-event gravity calendar, which features downhill, 4-cross, super D and dual slalom events, will span 11 states. With similar category designations, there are six category-1 events and 12 category-2 events. Category-1 events include the Sea Otter Classic, the Chile Challenge in Angel Fire, N.M., the Blast the Mass in Snowmass Village, Colo., the Mountain States Cup races in Telluride and Keystone, Colo. and the Rock MTN G3 Series Race in Angel Fire.

The ultra endurance calendar, which consists of 62-mile races, marathons and 12- and 24-hour races, includes six events. As in the cross country calendar, the gravity calendar and ultra endurance calendar will also crown overall champions at season’s end.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Spatdog.com is starting their season off early with the 2007 Buck Ridge MTB race on February 10th, 2007. The course is described as "8 mile circuit course. A rolling trail with short fast climbs and short fast downhills. Mostly single track sprinkled with fire road. Not real technical and an absolute blast to ride. Laps vary on category." Complete details on last year's race is available over on GeoLadders.com (although they may run it backwards this year).

In addition to the mountain bike racing, Team Bigfoot also promotes a few road and cyclocross (CX) races. These races include: Tour of the Unknown Coast (Road Century on May 12), Arcata Downtown Criterium (Road Race on June 3), Redwood Cyclocross (CX on Oct. 28) andAnnual Stomach Churn (CX on Dec. 19th).

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

The folks over at racemtbikes.com have announced their Prairie City Race Series (PCRS) schedule for Spring 2007. There will be twelve weeknight XC races in this grassroots series (just like last year), with your ten best races counting towards your overall points series total. Every race has a different course design, but all of them consist of several laps (depending on skill) of two to four miles in length.

This season brings a few new rules to the series: mandatory upgrades, new point system for class changes and few category changes.

The dates for this year's Spring series are:

APRIL: 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th

MAY: 2nd, 9th, (NO RACE the 16th!) 23rd, 30th

JUNE: 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th

JULY: BBQ & Awards - (TBD)

As they say on the website: "2007 will be the 12th season of this grass roots event. Started back in 1995 by Sherwood Gibson of VENTANA MOUNTAIN BIKES USA as a way to give back to the community and for everyone to have FUN. The first races had 60 to 70 riders each week... today we regularly get over 250 racers!"

The races are held at Prairie City Off Highway Vehicle Park [ MAP ] near Folsom, CA (just east of Sacramento on Hwy 50). Prairie City OHV is a off-roads motorsports (i.e. Motocross) mecca where the annual Hang Town Motorcycle Races are held. You race over the same enduro style course, with numerous steep, short climbs and quick descents on the hardpack trail. Check out the race gallery photos for a better idea of the course conditions. Better yet, check out last year's archives and see GPS maps of the actual courses.

Event: Prairie City Race SeriesDates: April 4th - June 27th, 2007Location: Folsom, CACompetition: XCCost: $25 for the first time you race, $10 per race there after. Pre-register for a cool t-shirt and swag.URL: http://www.racemtbikes.com/Registration: http://www.racemtbikes.com/07reg.htm (and onsite before races)License: none

I've raced Spring and Fall Series the last two years and thought these were some of the best races I did last year: Low key, fun, great course. And even on a weeknight.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The folks over at RideSFO have confirmed the remaining two dates for the 2007 Corral Hollow Downhill (CHDH) Series:

Race 1: April 21-22, 2007 (previously announced)

Race 2: June 1-3 9-10, 2007

Race 3: September 8-9, 2007

The CHDH is held in Livermore, CA inside the Carnegie SVRA. Last year's single race attracted more than 100 riders. Full details on the events are posted on the CHDH 2007 Info page. For information on last year's race, check the archives.